The Communion of Saint Jerome
Author: António Manuel Fonseca
Origin: Italy?
Dating: 18th-19th century (copy of a 16th century piece by Domenico Zampieri)
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions (cm): 460 x 298
Inv. no.: MNAA556 / PD1194dep
This painting depicts the communion of Saint Jerome, witnessed by his disciples moments before his death. On the left side – in the foreground – one may see a group of figures, including the Saint. He is naked, with a white cloth around his waist. He is depicted with an expression of suffering, supported by some of his disciples and receiving the host with fervor. Kneeling at his feet, one may see Saint Paula kissing his left hand. In the lower left corner of the canvas is the domesticated lion, one of Saint Jerome’s iconographic symbols.
António Manuel da Fonseca (1796-1890)
A native of Lisboa, he was a reference painter in the Portuguese neoclassical representative of the Roman Academy. He produced a vast work, developing mainly themes from Greco-Roman antiquity, portraits of various personalities and historical, religious and mythological scenes. Occasionally, he also did sculptures and lithographies.
He was a disciple of his father João Tomás da Fonseca, of Joaquim Manuel da Rocha and, later in Rome, of the Italians Vincenzo Camuccini and Andrea Pozzi.
He reproduced notable copies of Raphael Sanzio’s “Transfiguration” and Domenico Zampieri’s “Communion of St. Jerome” (both in the Ducal Palace), among other works by Raphael, Carlo Dolci, Van Dyck, etc.
He was appointed professor of Historical Painting at the Academia de Belas-Artes, alternating his long career between teaching neoclassicism and decorative painting, while exhibiting regularly at the academy.
António Manuel da Fonseca was much appreciated and acclaimed in his time, achieving great honours throughout his life, which spanned almost the entire 19th century. He died at the age of 94 in Lisboa, where he lived. He is buried in the Prazeres Cemetery (Lisboa).
